Desk with rotary chart magazine



May 26, 1959 L. A. SEASE ETAL INVENTORS Lura A. Sense Dorothy J. JohnsonM. M

l 5 t l 9 e u h S t m h s 2 D 7 l w m m 0 u m m m a n u M n n d 1. k H i5 F ATTORNEY y 1959 L. A. SEASE ETAL 2,888,306

DESK WITH ROTARY CHART MAGAZINE Filed March 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR LURA A. SEASE DOROTHY J. JOHNSON MMM ATTORNEY United StatesvPatent DESK WITH ROTARY CHART MAGAZINE Lura A. Sease and Dorothy J.Johnson, Ontario, Calif. Application March 20, 1957, Serial No. 647,250

' 1 Claim. Cl. 312-196) This invention relates to the recording ofevents and the care and maintenance of records including those ofpatients by hospitals where doctors, nurses and others particularlydedicated to the treatment of human ills perform their services as wellas others, and where access to such records sometimes is had by severalpersons at the same time.

The invention relates particularly to desks and charts kept or placedthereon and kept for frequent examination by persons concerned with suchrecords and requiring periodic access thereto.

File cards and charts have been kept in various ways in hospitals andother places where population is dense and trafiic is heavy andexamination of such file cards by several people simultaneously hascaused confusion, delay, loss of time, difiiculty in finding lostrecords, and other problems. This is particularly true where the cardsand charts are stacked or kept on racks on the back of a desk.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the above and otherproblems by providing a desk with a rotary chart or card turret fromwhich a card may be removed and replaced with the minimum of effort, andfrom any location around the desk, and making it possible for severalpeople to withdraw and return cards or charts with minimum loss of timeand confusion regardless of whether the cards or charts are removed foradditional entries or with respect to those already made by the hospitalstaff or attending physician.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple andinexpensive desk with a rotary chart holder or turret in which the partsare maintained in a most practical and convenient position and with thechart holder mounted on suitable bearings for easy rotation andaccessibility.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Fig. l is a front elevation illustrating the invention;

Fig. 2, a top plan view;

Fig. 3, an enlarged vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4, an enlarged fragmentary perspective of the rotary magazine;

Fig. 5, an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of one of the bearingson the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 6, an enlarged fragmentaryperspective of a modified form of chart holder.

Briefly stated the invention comprises a desk of conventionalconstruction, for example of equal length and breadth, in the center ofwhich is mounted a rotary chart turret including multiple pairs ofspaced inclined notched supports for the pins at opposite ends ofhospital charts so that the charts may be supported in proper relation.The angularity between the supports and the base of the turretpreferably is near 40 and the turret is provided with a raised centersection and an annular lower section, the raised center section beingsupported by a center post 2,888,306 Patented May 26, 1959 "ice and thelower annular outer portion being supported by suitable bearings forfree rotation of the turret.

With continued reference to the drawings, the present inventioncomprises a desk having a table top 10, depending corner members 11supporting said table top and having inset floor-engaging base members12. In the center of the table top 10 is provided a central recessedopening 10' in which is located a rotatable card or chart holder orturret 13 having multiple inclined faces located for example adjacentthe four sides of the desk on a post 14 (Fig. 3).

In the support for each corner of the deskthere is a stack of drawersincluding a shallow top drawer 15 and two lower drawers 16 and '17. Theshallow top drawer is slidably mounted under the top 10 and below thedrawer 15 in each corner there are two slidable drawers 16 and 17 withhandles 18 of any suitable shape to pull out and return drawers 15, 16and 17.

The central chart holder or magazine is a rotary turret with fourinclined supports 13 having recesses 19 to receive conventional hospitalcharts provided with extended hinge pins or pivots by which they aresupported in a rigid holder. The turret 13 may be turned to any positionaround the desk so that its inclined faces will be located convenientlyfor persons seated about the desk. The turret is mounted on rollerbearings 20 located in sockets 21 on the underside of the annularhorizontal body member 22 of the turret, the rollers preferably arepacked in grease to increase their life and make them run freely in agroove 23 in the upper face of the cutout portion of the top of the deskin which the turret is located. Bearings 20 support the annular lowersection of the turret and the central raised portion being supported bypost 14, the ends of which being located in bearings 24. The lowerbearing 24 rests upon a base 25 carried by a marginal ring 26 which isfastened by a ring 27, L-shaped in cross-section to the underside of thedesk top 10 by means of screws or other fasteners 28. The turret 13 isprovided with openings 29 on four sides to permit depending charts toextend therethrough, the horizontal portion of the turret beingotherwise solid except for a center opening 30 about which are fourupstanding walls 31 on which is mounted a cap 32, the parts being joinedby dowel pins and glue or other desired fastening means. The inclinedsupports 13 may have holders 33 adjacent each recess 19 adapted tocontain identification means for the charts held therein. Instead of therecesses 19 of Fig. 4 the device may have undulations 19' as shown inFig. 6.

Suitable cushioning means such as heavy cloth 34 (Fig. 5) is preferablylocated between the outer wall of the turret and the adjacent wall ofthe opening 10" in the top of the desk to reduce noise, avoid frictionand provide a finished joint.

Preferred dimensions for the chart holder units may be ten inches wideand twelve inches in height, sloping at their upper faces at a 40 angleupward toward the center of the unit, leaving handling space for thecharts. The rounded grooves 19 for the charts are spaced one inch apart,and are formed for accommodating a standard 12 x 9 chart. The cap 32 atthe top where the four units meet is a flat surface. The center post 14extends from the top of the chart unit to twelve inches below the desktop and rotates on ball bearings at top and bottom which ball bearingsare packed in oil.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawings and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the accompanying claim.

What is claimed is:

In a multi-personnel chart-desk comprising a substantially squarerelatively flat top, a circular opening transversely through a centralportion of said top, an annular peripheral recess about said openingextending into said top, an annular body rotatably supported in saidrecess in alignment with the top of said desk and inwardly of saidcircular opening, a cylindrical base including a transverse bottomdepending from said top co-axially with said central opening, a supportpost journaled at its lower end to said transverse bottom and extendingaxially through said central opening and above said top, and a turretincluding a downwardly opening rectangular housing journaled to theupper end of said post and extending thereover inwardly of said centralopening, and pairs of spaced chart supports including an upper edgeextending angularly from said rectangular housing to said annular bodymember, said chart supports including aligned recessed References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lane Aug. 31, 1948Jackson Sept. 26, 1893 Tracey Feb. 10, 1903 Blackman Feb. 5, 1907Hawthorne July 23, 1907 Walton Feb. 24, 1914 Hemshewski Aug. 29, 1922Finocchiaro May 8, 1923 Cook Mar. 19, 1935 Wassell June 26, 1951Shampaine July 29, 1952 McAllister Mar. 31, 1953

